The downturn in Finland's forest industry deepened on Wednesday as UPM, regarded as the country's largest and most influential forest industry company, reported a sharp decline in its third-quarter (Q3) earnings for 2025, reported Xinhua.
UPM's comparable profit for the quarter fell 47 percent year on year to 153 million euros down from 291 million euros in the same period last year, as its profit margin shrank to 6.7 percent from 11.5 percent. Quarterly sales totaled 2.3 billion euros, compared with 2.5 billion euros a year earlier.
For the first nine months of 2025, comparable profit dropped 30 percent to 566 million euros from 806 million euros in the corresponding period of 2024. Sales between January and September slipped to 7.3 billion euros from 7.7 billion euros a year earlier.
UPM president and CEO Massimo Reynaudo said the quarter brought "temporary clarity to the terms of international trade," but that "consumer demand stayed subdued and uncertainty remains." He noted that "continued significant uncertainties in geopolitics and global trade" were weighing on UPM and the broader forest industry.
The company said it would end paper production at one of its Finnish mills by the end of this year and had sold a previously closed mill in Germany to improve cash flow. In its adhesive materials business, UPM announced plans to discontinue production in France to further boost efficiency.
Once a cornerstone of Finland's economy, the forest industry continues to face prolonged weakness amid stagnant global demand, rising costs, and structural transformation. Last week, other major producers — Stora Enso and Metsa Group — also reported weaker third-quarter results.
- UPM
- Weakness
- Forest industry
- Finland
Source: www.dailyfinland.fi
